The Cook Strait separates the northern and southern New Zealand islands and is approximately 14 miles wide at its narrowest point.
Dangerous currents and strong storms mean that navigation across the strait is often dangerous, while both coasts are flanked by steep and imposing cliffs.
A young man had a lucky escape after getting stuck off the coast of Mana following a night trip across the Cook Strait in an inflatable boat.
New Zealand police
After authorities used man’s cellphone data to locate him, they found him 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) west of the island of Mana and rescued him – cold, but not hypothermic – and in “reasonably well good “.
Sergeant Major Dave Houston warned in a statement that only capable seafarers with adequate equipment should make the coastal voyage and that people should remember that Cook Strait is a dangerous body of water.
Houston said the man was not an experienced sailor and hadn’t checked the weather.
“If it hadn’t been for him to ring and be able to locate him from his phone data, it could have been a very different result,” said Houston.
“His cell phone battery was running low. If we didn’t have the mobile tracker we would have had a massive search. The mobile tracker would have literally saved his life,” added Houston.
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